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An Amherst lawyer accused of stealing from the New York State Thruway Employees union has pleaded guilty to each of the 34 counts against him.

Kevin C. Clor, a longtime lawyer for the union, admitted stealing from the Teamsters local as part of a plea agreement reached with the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.

A spokeswoman for Vance said Clor pleaded guilty to charges of felony grand larceny, criminal possession of a forged instrument and falsifying business records. He will be sentenced Aug. 8.

Clor, 40, who often worked out of his home office in Amherst, was accused of submitting about 150 false reimbursement receipts to Thruway Employees Local 72. Vance alleges that Clor began stealing from the union in 2006 and continued his wrongdoing until last year.

The union represents more than 2,500 full- and part-time Thruway employees, including toll collectors, grounds workers and janitors.

"As general counsel of the New York State Thruway Employees union, the defendant had a duty to protect the rights and financial well-being of the union's members," Vance said at the time Clor was indicted.

Prosecutors say Clor was entitled to reimbursement for legitimate business expenses incurred on behalf of the union, including travel and lodging while representing union members in proceedings across the state. The problem, they say, is that he billed the union for expenses he never incurred.

Clor was accused of stealing about $128,000 from the union's Welfare Fund and about $84,000 from its general fund. In one instance, Clor allegedly billed the union for $23,000 in continuing education classes at Buffalo's Nichols School.

Nichols, however, doesn't offer adult education classes, and Vance said the only money that Clor might have paid Nichols was for the rental of the school's ice rink.

The lawyer also was accused of forging UPS receipts for expenses he never incurred, submitting fake bills for classes in Wisconsin he never attended and submitting fraudulent receipts for legal reference material he never bought.

As general counsel to the union, Clor often attended grievance meetings, arbitration hearings and disciplinary proceedings with the State Thruway Authority.

email: pfairbanks@buffnews.com

Phil Fairbanks – Phil Fairbanks covers federal courts and criminal justice issues and occasionally veers off into the world of refugees, human traffickers and streets gangs.